What is a paraskevidekatriaphobic?
As of November 5, 2007, drivebyshooter.net will no longer be updated. For posts on photography, you can now go to LightChasers Photography. For the author's personal site, head over to the Dark Corner.
Rico, this one’s for you. I’ve got a question too: what is a paraskevidekatriaphobic? Are you one?
I’ll give you a clue - it has something to do with today, Friday the 13th.
According to Wikipedia, “some people are so paralyzed by fear that they are simply unable to get out of bed when Friday the 13th rolls around.” These people, as you may have already guessed, are called paraskevidekatriaphobics. Yup, that’s the term coined by Dr. Donald Dossey, at least according to the About.com page on the matter.
These paraskevidekatriaphobics, you see, belive that Friday the 13th is unlucky, but “offer no explanation at all, logical or illogical.” Contrast that with some who try to tell us exactly how Friday the 13th works.
Still, some will argue that Friday the 13th really is unlucky - they can cite a 1993 study by the British Medical Journal. This study found that hospital admissions “were significantly increased on Friday 13th” and concluded that “Friday 13th is unlucky for some.” I think the added tension and stress caused by fear of bad luck probably played a big part in most of these admissions.
Nope, I’m not a paraskevidekatriaphobic - and this is why I’m writing this post. I just wish the Urban Legends Reference Pages, or heck, the MythBusters would finally put this issue to rest.
Tags: paraskevidekatriaphobic, Friday the 13th, bad luck, unlucky, Wikipedia, About.com, British Medical Journal, Urban Legends Reference Pages, snopes.com, MythBusters
DBS posted this entry at 1:13 AM on Friday, the 13th of April 2007. He may have also posted related entries in the following categories: links & plugs; holidays; funny.
April 13th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Haha, nice one.
Where’d you come across this? While following links?
Btw, you may wanna change “the folling tags are allowed…”
April 13th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
[…] Luis “Elber” Cruz, who writes about the word paraskevidekatriaphobic. The term simply defines the fear most of us have for Friday the […]
April 13th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Today isn’t your lucky day, I guess.
I just installed Spam Karma recently, and it has been pretty harsh on comments. I’ve been tweaking the settings to try and make sure most of your comments don’t get sent to purgatory.
On another note, if you do decide to comment again soon, can you tell me if the comment editing function works for you? I’ve been having problems with it.
Thanks, and good luck for the rest of the day!
April 14th, 2007 at 2:07 am
I was never a paraskevidekatriaphobic and I’m definitely not one today. Why? Because today for me… is PAYDAY! Ka-ching!!!
April 14th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
hey there boyfriend!
i think we both agree that people do get lucky on friday the 13th! haha! 
the 6 months that we have been together has been very lucky 4 me and i have been extremely happy! finding each other and falling in love accidentally was one of the luckiest things that has ever happened 2 me. i love you! mwahh! 
April 16th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
bear,
You’re one of the luckiest people I know - I guess not even Friday the 13th has an effect on you. I love you!
July 14th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
[…] know yesterday was Friday the 13th, but unlike last time when I defined the word paraskevidekatriaphobic, I didn’t write a post about it. I guess I couldn’t really care less about the date - […]